Nigel Farage is an International Embarassment for the UK

Oh dear. Nigel Farage is at it again. On 5th April, he galloped into Strasbourg atop his Brexit unicorn and proceeded to once again, spew bile and delusional accusations at EU parliamentarians. Farage criticised the EU for it's £52 billion pound exit bill at the start of negotiations. As the official representative of all that is wrong with Britain, he had the audacity to say a hell of a lot of threatening and patronising words.

I am thoroughly disgusted by Farage's behaviour. He is there as a representative of the UK and is acting like everything about Brexit must be fine with him. He has become the face of the UK abroad and the poster boy for why people should just tell us to get stuffed. He's basically saying it's my way or no way at all. There are 65 million people in the UK and Farage is representing the extreme end of racist nationalism.

For the rest of this article, I want to analyse Farage's speech and bring to light other occasions that demonstrate what a disastrous demagogue he has been for Britain.

Analysis of the Speech Part 1

• “You’ve shown yourself with these demands to be vindictive, to be nasty. All I can say is thank goodness we’re leaving. You're behaving like the mafia - you think we're a hostage. We're free to go!"

Farage is trying to turn all sentiments against the EU. The EU have literally stated that any deal that the UK receives will be worse than what they have now, otherwise what is the point of being a member state? For some reason, Farage was outraged over common sense and blasted the EU parliament as holding us hostage. The sheer number of rules and regulations, hindrances and benefits that come with the EU can't be shrugged off over night Nigel.

Furthermore, calling the EU "nasty" is an unmatched height of hypocrisy. Farage has made a career out of being a thoroughly repulsive toad. Here are is a great collection of Nasty Nigel :

1. Whether it was his outdated views on Romanians moving in next door, 
2. The rejection of the NHS helping immigrants with HIV/AIDs or even
3. Blaming delays on a motorway on immigrants.
4. Defending  UKIP members use of the term "Chinky" to describe a Chinese takeaway.
5. Saying he felt uncomfortable when people spoke another language on a train.
6. When he said the British army should be deployed to France to put down a "migrant rebellion".
7. Saying women were paid less because they were simply “worth far less” than many of their male counterparts.
8. Unveiled a poster showing Syrian refugees travelling to Europe under the title “Breaking point”.
9. Blaming rising antisemitism on Muslim immigrants
10. Saying that "In scores of our cities and market towns, this country, in a short space of time, has frankly become unrecognisable,"
11. Calling Belgium a "non-country" at an EU parliament session.
12. Calling Scotland a "pretty ugly nation" after protests against him.
13. After forcing a referendum on the EU, says he'll move somewhere else if Brexit is a disaster.

Meanwhile in the EU, some very different things are being said:

-"Combating poverty is more than just ‘plain good business sense’, it is a matter of fundamental rights: everyone’s right to human dignity and equal treatment, the right of children to development, the right of minorities to non-discrimination" (Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos, Head of Equality and Citizens' Rights Department)

- "There are political forces in Europe capitalising on people’s fears and security concerns to gain electoral support for their chauvinist, racist agendas. And their fierce resistance to integrate newcomers will continue.… The atmosphere will become thick with hate; at this point it can descend rapidly into colossal violence. This is not the Europe we want. We must all – EU institutions, national governments, human rights institutions, civil society, social partners, and faith communities – do our part to ensure that the European project is one of which we can be proud; one that puts human dignity at its very heart." (Michael O’Flaherty, Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights)

-  I hope for once that all European leaders have the courage to stand up together with the European Parliament and fight back against this bunch of nationalists and populists who want to destroy us. (Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian MEP/Leader of Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe/Lead Brexit Negotiator for European Parliament)

-  We need more, not less cooperation; we need more, not less, solidarity with vulnerable people. We need a political leadership that does not give into populism but stands for values and stands for human dignity. (Lars Adaktusson, Swedish MEP)

- A fair playing field also means that in Europe, consumers are protected against cartels and abuses by powerful companies. And that every company, no matter how big or small, has to pay its taxes where it makes its profits. This goes for giants like Apple too, even if their market value is higher than the GDP of 165 countries in the world. In Europe we do not accept powerful companies getting illegal backroom deals on their taxes. (Jean Claude Juncker, President of EU Commission)

If anyone is behaving like a mafia, it is you Farage. You and your cartel of UKIP donors and Rupert Murdoch stooges.

Analysis of the Speech Part 2

• "If you wish to have no deal, if you wish to force us to walk away from the table, it is not us that will be hurt," he said.

My previous post on the EU mentioned some of the economical and employment figures of jobs created and dependant on the EU itself. Basically, 4.5 million jobs in the UK are related to the European Union. If trade deals and tariffs were imposed, this is almost certain to mean job losses and reductions in revenues and profits. He's being an idiot here. One country is certainly going to miss 27 others free trade if we left without a deal. They'll still all be able to trade without tariffs but it will become far more expensive for us to trade with them. 

Yes, our professional services are valued around Europe, that is a fact, but there is nothing stopping that from changing. Already, several companies have made plans to relocate premises and jobs, and their have been strong suggestions that Frankfurt will take London's place as the business hub of Europe. It will be far easier for EU members to use services that already comply with the same rules and regulations as each other, rather than having to go to an island on the outskirts of the continent that has goodness knows what potential barriers to trade and services.

Furthermore, Farage might think he is being subtle, but what he is really saying is that we shouldn't make a deal. He is doing his best to torpedo anything that would involve negotiation. He is the epitome of my way or the high way.

Analysis of the Speech Part 3

• "Do you know, we don't have to buy German motor cars, we don't have to drink French wine, we don't have to eat Belgian chocolate. There are a lot of other people that will give that to us."

This is the pinnacle of selfishness and stupidity. Farage threatened the rest of Europe with not buying their produce. One of the key abilities of the single market was to allow the circulation of goods across all member states and consequently means their is more choice and competition. Through Farages speech, he has completely and unequivocally ignored anyone else's opinion on the matter. 

People like these imports! For an example of what might happen if Farage gets his way, look at Toblerone. They reduced the size of their bar and lots of people were outraged! Taking this scenario, what's going to happen if we suddenly can't get the brilliantly built car models from VW, BMW, Mercedes? What's going to happen if we don't get specific types of wine anymore? Can you imagine the upper class uproar? Moreover, I think I speak for all when I say, if you take Belgian chocolate away, there would be riots in the street.

Farage is viewed as a Fool outside the UK

My new favourite politician, is not anyone from the UK, but is the co-coordinator of Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt. He is a well spoken, liberal minded man that does not sink to the depths of unnecessary insults. When Farage berated the EU after the referendum result, Verhofstadt said to much applause and laughter "Finally we will be getting rid of the biggest waste in the EU budget – that we have paid for 17 years, your salary.". He also mentioned that Farage was no representative of the English working class because he had an offshore bank account. Verhofstadt added that he accepted the result of the referendum, but not the way it was run, criticising the politics of UKIP and fear. He showed Farage to be a sham and a hypocrite in front of Europe and if it didn't embarrass Farage, he has a skin thicker than mud.

Additionally during this heated war of words, the President of the EU Commission, Jean Claude Juncker asked Farage “You were fighting for the exit, the British people voted in favour of the exit, so why are you here?”. It was from this sentence that it was obvious Farage was only there to gloat about his own success. This was a man supposed to be representing peoples interests in Europe, yet instead it was all about him.  Farage was never taken seriously by the EU and the only way he could win the referendum was through dirty tactics. His victory in England may be hailed in some corners, but across Europe he will never be seen as a true winner.

Outside of EU matters, Farage has made a career as an expert for Fox News in the USA. His most notable appearance was in the wake of the London attack a few weeks ago. While reviewing the situation he came out with this: "if you open your door to uncontrolled immigration from Middle Eastern countries, you are inviting in terrorism." Given that the attacker was a 52 year old man from Kent, I think you can see why he was ridiculed in England for the comments. Essentially, he went to American TV, where everyone is literally terrible, and spouted off as much rubbish as he could and then pocketed his money.

One of my favourite moments of the year so far, was a little girl giving Farage a mock knighthood on TV. Farage was reported earlier in the week to be angry that he had been denied a knighthood, so Russia Today decided to give him a mock one. A 6 year old girl came out dressed as the Queen and in pretended to knight him and afterwards said ""My mummy says you hate foreigners". It was brilliant. The youthful innocence of children contrasted with the middle-aged racist and he ended up looking the stupid one.

When he criticised the EU and got it completely wrong

• "You have the charisma of a damp rag, and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk," he told the then-president of the EU, Herman Van Rompuy, in 2010.

Farage was fined after an extraordinary rant against the election of Herman Van Rompuy, criticising his appearance and personality. It was highly unwarranted as he was democratically elected, something Nigel says the EU never was.

• "I know that virtually none of you have ever done a proper job in your lives, or worked in business, or worked in trade, or indeed ever created a job."

This was an embarrassing speech after Brexit to the EU where Farage questioned the very nature of who was in charge of the EU. Obviously he didn't do any research towards it :

Guy Verhofstadt : Former Prime Mininster of Belgium

Vytenis Andriukaitis : World renowned Surgeon

Marine Le Pen (Eugh) : Lawyer

Martin Schulz : Owned a bookshop

Alyn Smith : Lawyer

Diane Dodds : Teacher

Philippe Lamberts : Worked at IBM

Ryszard Antoni Legutko : Lecturer

Manfred Weber : Consultant

Gianni Pittella : Doctor

Marcel De Graaff : Consultant/Teacher

Syed Kamall : Consultant/Lecturer

Geoffrey Van Orden : Brigadier in British Army

Vicky Ford : Banker

Richard Ashworth : Dairy Farmer

And that's just the list I made before I went to bed. There are 751 MEPs and all are experts in something.

Conclusion

Farage is a habitual liar, who only cares about his own goals. His talent is making people believe his outdated grievances should be everyone else's grievances. He does this by blaming immigrants for anything, and then consequently blaming the EU for the immigrants. 

Many people can see through this charade and across the continent he is regarded as nothing more than an annoyance. He is the epitome of "The Little Englander" and all he is doing at the moment is causing the UK harm in negotiations. He is an absolute embarrassment. From being best friends with the USA equivalent of an idiot tangerine, to yelling baseless accusations at experts in their own field, Farage is doing nothing to help the UK and it would be so much better for everyone, if he just disappeared and never came back.

References

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/28/is-nigel-farage-right-meps-have-not-done-proper-jobs

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-farage-european-parliament-mock-eu-leaders-mafia-brexit-talks-uk-britain-ransom-a7667306.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-farage-knighthood-young-girl-hates-foreigners-russia-today-sam-delayney-a7610866.html

http://news.sky.com/story/charisma-of-a-damp-rag-farages-anti-eu-quotes-10348202

http://ukandeu.ac.uk/facts-behind-the-claims-trade-rules/

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20170201+ITEM-012+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=en&query=INTERV&detail=1-054-000

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20170404+ITEM-014+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=en&query=INTERV&detail=2-505-000

http://fra.europa.eu/en/speech/2017/speech-meeting-chairpersons-committees-social-affairs

http://fra.europa.eu/en/speech/2017/migrants-access-eu-rights-and-services

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-farage-resigns-ukip-leader-brexit-leave-most-controversial-moments-racism-sexism-immigration-a7118801.html

https://www.indy100.com/article/ten-other-things-nigel-farage-has-tried-to-blame-on-immigration--ey8RKw_kFg

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/01/stop-bashing-the-eu-jean-claude-juncker-tells-european-leaders

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-16-3043_en.htm

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nigel-farage-london-terror-attack-multiculturalism-blame-immigration-lbc-radio-ukip-mep-leader-a7645586.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-nigel-farage-eu-referendum-belgian-prime-minister-ridicules-ukip-leader-lying-in-campaign-a7107361.html